Wednesday, 9 October 2013

If anyone was in any doubt on whether the Panorama team were complicit in the Dodgy Napalm Report, they made 29th August, this may help you decide. I don't know whether to be shocked or not.

I did know Panorama had televised the full program on 30th Sept but had not got round to viewing it. A post on the Guardian CIF prompted me to check it out (thanks to Atvar48). It linked to this article.

In the original report Dr Rola Hallam is shown saying one thing. In the later full Panorama episode it appears they have cut and pasted the audio so Dr Rola is saying 'chemical weapon' instead of 'napalm'. As Dr Rola is wearing a mask as she is speaking they've not had to worry about lip-synching. Unless you had the original to reference you wouldn't even realise it.

Original report (see 2:16 to 2:38): "I need a pause 'cause it's just absolute chaos and carnage here. Erm..we've had a massive influx of what looks like...serious burns..err...seems like it must be so some sort of...I'm not really sure....maybe napalm...something similar to that. But obviously within the chaos of the situation it is very difficult to know exactly what is going on"

Later report: (see 32:29 to 32:40): " It's just absolute chaos and carnage here. Erm...we've just had a massive influx of what looks like...serious burns..err...seems like it must be some sort of...chemical weapon...I'm not really sure"

While the footage of Dr Rola speaking with her mask on looks similar in both reports, note the guy with the the fluorescent jacket standing just behind to the side. In the original report he has his hands behind his back. In the second report, in the full Panorama program, he has his hands to the side. The footage is totally different. How much had Dr Rola said during this time? The only other reason we could have this difference is that her 'impromptu' interview had to have several takes, which is just as incriminating. But I have listened to the audio over and over. Each 'erm' and 'err' is exactly in the right place. The pitch of her voice etc. appears to be the same.

So why change her words to say 'chemical weapon' instead of 'napalm'? Did it look too suspicious with Dr Rola concluding napalm in all this 'chaos'? You'll also hear Dr Rola's associate say straight after "We don't know what we're dealing with" - as if to reinforce their innocence in all of this. Was 'chemical attack' more suited to the narrative?

Now, whatever the BBC claim about balance we all know they show whatever fits their bias. But when it comes to altering what someone has said in such a way then we're really in another ballpark altogether.

There are many more discrepancies which need a better look at, such as teenagers suddenly appearing in this later report which were totally absent from the first one. Now we can confirm that the guy with the stubble and faded jeans, who looks in his early 20s, showing Panorama around the 'school', is supposed to be the headmaster for seniors. Really?

They've also excluded the 'witness' pleading to the camera with his script on the full programme.

Note BBC iplayer may not be viewable outside of the UK. You can instead view the shorter BBC report here. And hopefully the BBC won't have tried to edit it again!

Sunday, 22 September 2013

29th August 2011 - Media report on a warehouse in Libya where the charred skeletal remains of unidentified humans remain. HRW pin the carnage on the Khamis Brigade, a supposed elite force in the Libyan army.

So what do HRW use to support their claim? The following testimony from a guy who claimed to have escaped during the execution.

Let's analyse the witness statement.

Witness: Four soldiers climbed on the top of the warehouse, and another
soldier opened the door. They started shooting at us through the roof.
It was made of sheet metal. The guy at the door was throwing in
grenades…I saw bullets and heard people saying Allahu Akbar, and that’s
all. I saw [eight people] fall down. When [the guards] were refilling
their ammunition, I ran out the door and jumped over the wall. I was not
wounded, hamdullah. They just shot and killed us…

How does the witness know the precise number of soldiers that had climbed on the sheet metal roof. Has he got special vision?
Why does he need to tell us that the roof was sheet metal? As proof that he was there?
So,
a guy was at the door throwing in grenades. I'll admit I'm not an
expert on grenades but wouldn't this be shaking the crap off the roof?
Wouldn't the explosions also come back on the soldier that was at the
door?
The witness claims he escaped while the gunmen were
reloading. So all 4 gunmen just happened to be re-loading at the same
time. And presumably the guy at the door tossing in grenades also took a
break.
He claims he ran out of the door. The same door that the
soldier with the grenades was occupying or maybe another back door which
they provided so prisoners could leave when they liked?

He's been
in a warehouse being shot at by 4 soldiers, grenades being thrown in by
a fifth, run out the door, climbed over a wall and miraculously has
absolutely no injuries.

Witness: After I escaped, I saw one of the soldiers finish off anyone
who was wounded lightly. He would just finish them off. I saw him from
far away. He was wearing trouser fatigues and a civilian top. I
recognized him. He was one of the ones guarding us. His name was Brahim
and he was from Tajoura … After I escaped on August 23, I hid in a house
outside the compound for three days, and saw that the guards were still
there.

Ok, he's just escaped from a horrific scene with his
life and decides he wants to observe what else is happening there. Like
you do. How could he see what was going on in the warehouse from being
outside it, let alone from 'far away'.
He continued to observe the
compound (for whatever reason) for 3 days to assure us that it was
still controlled by Gaddafi's troops. Verifying that the rebels couldn't
have done this. That the rebels just turned up as the place was
burning. How convenient.
Now, about the fire:

Within three days the same warehouse was set on fire but the cause is unknown, Human Rights Watch said.

I
can only guess the bodies were set on fire to cover up the crimes. There has to have been an accelerant used as even the bones are charred. Now,
if the Khamis Brigade or other Gaddafi troops had done this and then
wanted to cover up why would they be spray painting their name all over
the building? Does that seem logical?

Here's another possible
scenario: Rebels/Special Ops took over the compound, rounded up
Gaddafi's troops and/or black Libyans/migrants. Killed
(Tortured/mutilated?) and then tried to burn the evidence. Then stuck
some graffiti on the walls so people, who think Murder She Wrote is a
complicated whodunnit, would pin it on the Khamis Brigade.

If HRW can base a verdict on such testimony then it clearly shows they're either extremely incompetent or have a serious bias.

Please don't take this as an extreme example. Read other HRW reports and you'll see the same absurdities. They back up their agenda with nonsense and then claim to have facts. They know full well that the vast majority of people are never going to scrutinise their 'facts'. In fact it's rare that someone will even visit their website. The majority of their spin is sold through the mainstream media.

Video of some of the black Libyans/migrants who were killed/lynched by the angelic anti-Gaddafi rebel forces NATO supported. Note this is from the same area. Executed even while they were laying in the hospital. The rebels telling the media they were killed by the Libyan army.

So any investigation into these crimes, anyone to be prosecuted? No, the rebels were all given an amnesty from prosecution by the newly installed puppet government. Where are the Amnesia International and HRW campaigns for justice? Nowhere.

Thursday, 5 September 2013

Dr Rola has been doing the rounds with the media this week after her fake patients video got banded around, care of the BBC's Panorama team. Pushing for western humanitarian bombs to rain down on Syria and hoping this new 'attack' would impression the vote in Parliament after a week of chemical weapons claims. For some reason she only wants to be known as Dr Rola in her interviews. In an article done by an associate of hers in The Lancet, she is referred to under the pseudonym of Dr Rola Ahmed.

There's been some confusion over who she is and if she is even a doctor.

She is Dr Rola Hallam. You can check her on the GMC register here. Also known as Dr Rola Al-Kurdi (Alkurdi) - her maiden name. Dr Simon Hallam, her husband, is also involved in Hand in Hand for Syria.

Her status is: Registered with a license to practise. She is not on the GP register and not on the Specialist register.

There is also a Dr Mousa Al-Kurdi who is believed to be her father. He played his part in fronting stories for the Chemical attack in Ghouta just the week before. He is referred to as an oncologist or gynaecologist depending on the report you read. Surprise, surprise he is also in the Syrian National Council - the western funded opposition group. But the news articles simply refer to him as a Syrian doctor avoiding his political connections, to make it appear he's some impartial observer.

Update: The GMC appeared to have removed all reference to Alkurdi/Al-Kurdi on their register when checking today (12/09/13). Their site advises that names can be withheld for search.

It starts with amateur footage with the reporter, Ian Pannell, claiming a body is being covered. We see something that could possibly be a corpse but it could be anything. The reporter claims 10 teenagers were killed and that he witnessed the victims. However, it's not made clear if he is referring to the supposed patients in the field hospital or the ten dead.

00:33 - They go back to visit the 'school'. There are no school signs on the front gate, not a single sign inside the courtyard or at the front of the building. To the left you see a private pool (??) In fact, all indicators show this is a private residence, not a school.

There is an impact of some kind of weapon with charring just around the damage. If this were napalm or any kind of similar accelerant the whole place would be charred black. But you don't see a single example of burning anywhere else at all. That BBC reporters bought this says a lot about them.

00:42 - Pannell reports that the headmaster doesn't want to be identified, eventhough we have clear pictures of the 'school'. So if this school existed it would hardly be difficult for the government to know who the headmaster is. So why doesn't he want to be identified....hmm.

1:02 - This is meant to be a school for teenagers but you can see a small child's swing for 5 year olds in the courtyard. Further proof that this is a private house.

1:46 - 'Patients' are walking in to the 'field hospital' run by a pro-rebel UK charity called Hand in Hand for Syria. It has a very similar resemblance to the dodgy charities that were created over Libya by regime change supporters. (More about Hand in Hand for Syria's Dr Rola here) Who were quoted all over the mainstream media with some of the most ridiculous stories.

The patients look in a bad way - very convincing. The first guy comes in limping like a zombie (remember him for later).

2:02 - We're shown a man on a bed being given oxygen? This seems to be a classic in rebel videos with 'patients'. They just start pumping them with these masks. Rather than worry about the 'patient', who we're supposed to believe can't breathe, they're more interested in showing us his back. Now look closely at the 'burns' - real burns would have made the skin red all over. Instead what you see is like a latex make up which has stretched with movement and left almost circular gapes which show perfectly fine skin underneath.

These are not real burns

2:06 - You hear Dr Rola saying "More coming?" Why would a woman who can speak Arabic be speaking English to a Syrian ambulance worker? All for the camera. We also see a man with a gas mask on (ooh scary) except no one else has bothered.

2:08 - We see footage of the same guy who walked in at 1:46 still getting off the pickup truck.

2:10 - The Medic/Dr decides rather than worry about the 'patients' she needs to speak to the BBC. "I need a pause", she says, because of the chaos. Now watch the Doc's eyes when she says the word 'napalm'. Just as she says it her eyes flick to the camera.

2:39 - A lady who supposedly has burns to her face and is covered in some kind of burns cream still has her head dress on? She is the same lady you see being stretchered in at 2:26 screaming.

2:45 - We're shown Ahmed, the 15 year old. In fact the only teenager. Where are all the others at this school? Again, injuries look convincing. But burn cream seems to have been applied everywhere except his hands? And where is Ahmed now? Will they be interviewing him to show his current injuries? Because they've yet to do so on any other 'patients' the rebels like to show. He would be a poster for intervention propaganda if they did. Note, that Ahmed's injuries look nothing like those of the other 'patients'. Nor do we see any footage of him walking in. Was he already at the hospital as a real patient?

2:55 - So now we've seen the patients, the classic format is followed. A 'witness' screams to the camera (looking down as if reading a script) "Dear United Nations....what kind of peace are you calling for...don't you see this".

3:03 - In the style typical of much rebel propaganda, everyone is thrown together acting like zombies. Watch our friend from 1:46 earlier. Super bad acting as he spots the camera. A man with 'serious burns' is more worried about giving a peace sign as he's supposedly in agony (see this video here of the same - guy does peace sign at 00:30). Then a younger guy starts doing the same. Both these guys wouldn't pass an audition for the Thriller video, but all very convincing for the Panorama team.

According to Ian Panell's tweets they first just happened to be at the hospital when victims started coming in from this incident. They then went to film at the school two days later - because it was a dangerous area. If it was such a dangerous area how come teenagers were happily going to school there? Having checked, it is summer holiday season for all schools in Syria, so they should not even be open. There are so many glaring problems with the story apart from the zombies with their make-up.

Another discrepancy, which isn't uncommon - The rebels have been providing other videos with different patients on youtube for the same attack where it becomes a 'college'. I believe some have said videos for the chemical attack discussed in Parliament were already being posted before the time it was supposed to have happened. I haven't scrutinised the whole timeline on that to verify. But guaranteed our media certainly aren't bothered with doing so.

This from the same Panorama who were supplying propaganda for the Iraq invasion in 2003 - Saddam- A warning from history. Then John Simpson, now Ian Pannell. Lies that really kill people.

It is the end of the school day, teenage students gather in the
playground before heading home. An aircraft buzzes overhead. A second
later, chaos – at least 10 are dead and dozens wounded. Video images of
the young victims – the dead, dying and severely wounded - show
tell-tale signs of severe burns.

What video images of the dead? What has Ms Wareham even been watching?

That was the gruesome scene reported this week by
the BBC of an apparent Syrian government airstrike in northern Syria in
which an incendiary bomb was dropped on a school on August 26. While
we have not investigated this incident, we have recorded multiple
instances of Syrian government use of air-delivered incendiary bombs since November 2012, including in a previous school attackYou've not investigated it, Ms Wareham? Why not? Oh..but hold on, you have investigated others. That's okay then. Let's have a look at how you investigated those:

A video posted to YouTube by activists from Quseir, Syria shows ZAB 2.5
incendiary submunitions burning in the playground of the Ghaleb Radi
school following an airstrike on December 3, 2012.

Sounds like a lot of investigation there.

An activist told Human Rights Watch that four adults, including two Free
Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, were wounded during an airstrike using
incendiary weapons in Maarat al-Numan on November 28.

According to two local activists and video footage, approximately 20
civilians including women and children were wounded on December 3 by an
airstrike on a school and neighboring homes in Quseir that apparently
involved incendiary weapons. A home in Daraya also appears to have been
hit by incendiary weapons, based on local residents and footage
reviewed.Based on the account of a witness, the first documented use of an
incendiary weapon occurred on November 16. An activist in the Damascus
suburb of Daraya, which had been heavily bombarded by Syrian forces in
recent weeks, told Human Rights Watch that he filmed several videos
showing ZAB incendiary submunitions being dropped on Daraya:

In other words your investigations consisted of what activists told you from their media centre. This activist witness claiming he had filmed this ammunition being deployed but only actually providing video of the supposed aftermath. Oh, what a surprise. So what did HRW actually investigate? Absolutely nothing.

Meanwhile Kenneth Roth. Executive Director of HRW, insists he has the facts because he has people on the ground. Of course he makes the statement deliberately ambiguous so we assume he means HRW staff. His interview on RT shows him in true form with a mass of deceit and spin.

Thursday, 13 June 2013

The Guardian's Editor, Ian Black goes all the way to Damascus and what does he come back with? The opinions of his 'friends' in Syria. Whoever these friends are. Likely other chattering class types who have no sense of anything but their own little world. He could have got all this information from an email. Instead he decided to waste aviation fuel and the Guardian's expense account.

Wednesday 24th April 2013. The Guardian do an Ian Black Q&A on Syria. Seems Black tripped up over a few questions asked and then someone, likely Black, decided they wanted to erase all record of his responses. Six days after, they removed all comments from the page. And no, this is not usual practice when they've done other Q&As in the past.

I also want to ask about the Red Cross in Syria. As the
equivalent is the Red Crescent in Syria , does the Assad regime decide
who receives aid ? I have heard that aid is only given to pro regime
areas by the Red Crescent , is this correct?

@Pam Dalloul - the Red Crescent in Syria, like all Red
Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide, is independent from the
government of the country and operates by the principles of neutrality
and impartiality. This will give you some more information. Key info copied and pasted:

Who is funding Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) operations?
SARC
aid work is funded by contributions from the Red Cross Red Crescent
Movement, UN-organisations and other international NGOs with funding
from governments and other international donors. Red Cross Red Crescent
is seeking funding for the ongoing humanitarian assistance to support
food and non-food relief items, health care and safe drinking water as
priorities.
Can SARC work everywhere? Some media reports suggest otherwise.
SARC
is a community based organisation. SARC volunteers are working from
branches and sub-branches across the country. They are part of the
community who live in the respective area. They are providing lifesaving
first aid services where health and medical services no longer
function. SARC’s neutrality is key to deliver its humanitarian
assistance to almost two million people monthly. SARC provides
assistance to IDPs and across conflict lines. SARC volunteers are active
in areas like Qaboun, Jobar, Douma, Telbiseh, Tel Kalakh, Al Bokamal
and Menbej; to name a few.
SARC volunteers are working under
extremely difficult circumstances even putting their own lives at risk.
17 volunteers have lost their lives to date while providing humanitarian
assistance, latest on 3 March in Jobar, a suburb to Damascus.
Unsubstantiated reports and misinformation are adding to the risks to
which SARC volunteers are exposed.

@PeterSchmidt - Standard figure is that about 3.8m Syrians
are internally displaced. Plenty of people are critical of the rebels,
especially about what happened in Aleppo. In Damascus there is a
palpable fear of criticizing the government and a broad sense of
weariness about a crisis which is destroying the country.

Then
how is it that your paper has interviewed Syrian citizens who support
the FSA and have their pictures placed on their social networking
accounts in government areas?
When you and other media here were
claiming violence in Damascus when nothing was going on (same as you did
Tripoli) you later claimed on a visit that eventhough it was peaceful
it was 'burning' or something or another. You see what you want to see.

I have read recently that communities are increasingly
organizing their own local councils to step in and provide basic
municipal services given the collapsing infrastructure. Is there an
awareness of the efforts outside of Syria to form the transitional and
interim government or have they resigned themselves to living through a
protracted conflict without end, thus making these types of local
organizations that much more important from their perspective?

@mattinbiglari - Not yet. Government and rebels accuse each
other. Kidnapping bishops, several people have pointed out, would serve
the regime's interests,
I was in Damascus on a government issued
visa. Met people who support opposition. Secular types unhappy with
Islamist influence but insist the uprising is non-sectarian and
committed to freedom and democracy. Not met anyone who believes
post-Assad Syria will be an Islamist state.

@IanBlack - No offence Ian, but that short note would indicate balance of probabilities that regime responsible.
Surely
the fact the church has said they were taken by Chechens, and more
importantly that they were taken in a rebel controlled area - would be
salient facts?

@IanBlack - Sorry, I should also have said thank you for answering questions.
I appreciate reporting from Syria (or indeed Mid East generally) means you will constantly have your statements questioned.

Government and rebels
accuse each other. Kidnapping bishops, several people have pointed out,
would serve the regime's interests,

The churches stated it was Chechen jihadis:

Sources
in both churches said the kidnappers were believed to be Chechen
fighters, who stopped the car in an area outside of Aleppo.
"The
news which we have received is that an armed group... (of) Chechens
stopped the car and kidnapped the two bishops while the driver was
killed," an official from the Syriac Orthodox diocese said in a
statement posted online.
A source in the Greek Orthodox church said the kidnappers had described themselves as "Chechen jihadists."

@lacilir - Knowing one of the Bishops well, I have been
following this story very carefully. And knowing Syria well, I don't
believe anything anyone says, and you don't have to believe what I now
write, but I am led to believe that the Bab al Hawa area is under
government control. The very quick detailed response concerning the
kidnappers is typical of the government, which always wants to blame
foreign fighters. I think the bishops were kidnapped to scare the hell
out of them and prevent them moving to a position less pro-government.
They have been consistent in their balanced call for dialogue rather
than denouncing the violence of the government, and there may be reasons
to suggest that they might be tempted to a less neutral stance. So the
govt. decided to scare them. I may be wrong.

@patasola - Regime loyalists seem fairly upbeat. They claim
that the tide is turning in Assad’s favour. They say the rebels are
divided and dominated by jihadis and that these facts are now causing
further disarray and confusion internationally. The vice foreign
minister told me that there could be reform in Syria but only when
hostilities stop. Assad would not step down.

Ian, thanks for doing this and some absolutely first rate
reporting from Damascus over recent days (not to mention your earlier
reports from round the region).
Two related questions if I may:
1.
Did you find anything that led you to suppose there is any real world
prospect of this not being a fight to the bitter end, whether that leads
to "victory" of one side or the other or simply total fragmentation?
2.
Can the different Syrian communities ever find a way to live together
again in the foreseeable future? Or was the Chechen jihadi commander in
Aleppo quoted by Anthony Lloyd in the Times a few months back right: "Of
course, it would be lovely when all this is over if the Syrians could
live peacefully with one another. But with the nature of the fighting as
it is now, that is very unlikely."

@sjxt - 1) I didn't find anyone who believes in the
prospect of a negotiated end to the fighting. Even the government
appears to be paying no more than lip service to the idea.
2)
Syrian friends tell me that the country will never be the same again.
But opposition supporters insist that theirs is not a sectarian struggle
and blame the government for portraying it as such and trying to turn
it into one.

The
Syrian Orthodox Church, which represents over half of Syrian
Christians, issued a statement saying revolutionary fighters had
expelled some 50,000 Christians from the embattled city of Homs. That
figure is estimated to account for about 90 percent of the Christian
community there. Hundreds more — including women and children — were
slaughtered, according to charitable organizations operating in the
area.

Dear Ian,
I have 3 questions:
1. What can you
tell us about what's going on in the Damascus suburbs (East Ghouta, for
example)? Can you gauge the balance of power between the armed rebels
and the regime?
2. Are there any opposition activists left in Damascus? What kind of resistance to the regime, if any, is still going on?
3.
opposition local councils have been set up in some liberated areas
(e.g. in Idlib). Are they having any impact on the ground? Or are the
armed groups dominating civilian life?
Thanks!
Doreen

@DoreenKhoury - Govt seems to have some limited success in
the Ghouta area in recent days though it is not accessible and all that
is visible from Damascus is the aftermath of shelling or air strikes.
YouTube clips tell you more about what is going on.

A couple of questions:
Does the FSA *really* have
widespread popular support amongst Syrians on the ground or did you get
the sense that the majority support the government/not inclined one way
or the other?
Did you manage to speak to the pro-Govt side at all? If not, why?
Many thanks!

@NegativeCamber - Very difficult to work there as a
journalist. Ministry of Information very controlling; written permission
and an officially approved escort required to do almost anything,
Independent activity risky but still just about possible. Assume I was
monitored.

3. Do they decide who you work with?
No.
We find our own people to work with in terms of local producer and
driver. The drivers I have worked with have taken me into rebel-held
areas on several occasions. The government knows reporters may go to
these areas with a government visa and although I have done this on a
number of occasions it has not made any difference to getting my visa
both extended and renewed again upon re-application. I sense the
government understands there are two basic sides to the war and
journalists have the right to report from both.

On April 22nd, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released this statement:

'Expressing
his deep concern at the ever-deteriorating situation in Syria, and its
growing regional impact, the Secretary-General called for stemming the
supply of arms to any side in the Syrian conflict. More arms would only
mean more deaths and destruction'

http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=2793
This is a view that is apparently shared by the U.N. Commissioner for Human rights, and
the E.U.'s Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid
and Crisis Response. That more weapons will mean more death,
destruction and suffering.
In which case, why are Hague and Cameron apparently so keen to get the arms embargo on Syria lifted?
And
does this fact - them advocating a course of action that very senior
figures within the 'international community' are saying will only
exacerbate the suffering of Syrians - not call into serious question
their claim to be primarily motivated by humanitarian considerations in
their response to the conflict in Syria?

Good afternoon. Happy to answer questions but as there is a
good deal of repetition and overlap between them please look at all
answers to see if I have addressed the point you raise.
Worth
pointing out that I was in Damascus with a Syrian government visa. I met
government officials and others who support the government.
I was able to meet people who oppose Assad, but I did not meet anyone who openly identified as a member of the armed opposition.

@PatriceLumumba - Syrian friends of mine estimate 5%-10%
loyalty to government plus a lot people who are hedging their bets.
Sunnis are far less supportive than the Alawites especially the Damascus
business elite.

@jameswalsh - The CW issue is stalemated, though suspicions
are growing that such weapons have been used, possibly by both sides.
But the Syrian government is unhappy with calls for a UN investigation,
saying it fears "Iraqi-style fabrications."
Obama said use of CW
would be a "red line." But nervousness over allegations from Israeli
intelligence suggests a reluctance to get involved unless weapons are
used on a large scale internally or against another country.

Hi! Did you meet ordinary citizens who were aware of EU
intention to allow sale of Syrian Oil from opposition-occupied
oilfields, if sanctioned by the opposition, but not from the Government?
What sort of representative opinions do they express about this?

In an answer above, Ian Black states that some within the opposition insist that 'their's is not a sectarian struggle'.
While this is undoubtedly true for many activists, the U.N. CoI of Inquiry have documented
how 'As battles between Government forces and anti-Government armed
groups approach the end of their second year, the conflict has become
overtly sectarian in nature' (p.3). The Commission said they received
'credible reports of anti-Government armed groups attacking Alawites and
other pro-Government minority communities' (p.4), and that 'Syria’s
Armenian Orthodox, other Christian, and Druze communities have sought
protection by aligning themselves with the Government, with the
consequence that they have come under attack from anti-Government armed
groups' (p.5).
This takes me on to my main question:
While
any claim that comes from the Syrian regime and Syrian state media is
treated with scepticism, and rightly so, is there an opposite tendency
on the part of Western corporate media to treat claims coming from the
opposition and opposition media with an almost naive lack of scepticism?

@PaulLambert - No doubt that the conflict has become more sectarian as the Assad regime has shrunk to its loyal Alawite core.
.
Interesting
though, that the Christians I met in Damascus said that they had not
been targeted as Christians. Noteworthy too that the Syrian Opposition
Coalition strongly condemned the pledge of allegiance by Jabhat al-Nusra
to al-Qaida. Ex NOC leader Moaz al-Khatib denounced jihadis as having
non Syrian values.

NK: Do the militants target Orthodox Churches?
BL:
They kill people. They do not care about people, about human lives. And
that's more important than churches and cathedrals, because if there
are no people, there's no need for cathedrals. They do not care about
having killed hundreds of our people, let alone destroying churches or
mosques. Our churches have been attacked in all provinces. In Saidnaya
the monastery was under fire, but, thank God, a miracle happened - the
shell landed in the yard, breaking through the wall, but didn't explode.
It broke in two, with all the gunpowder in one half of it. If not for
this miracle, the shell would've killed 30 orphan girls. I've been there
and saw everything. Everywhere - in Harasta, Arbin, Zabadani, Daraa,
Aleppo, and around Damascus - our churches and our people have been
attacked. They are suffering. Our cathedral in Raqqa has been severely
damaged. These outlaws assault parishioners, kidnap and kill priests.
Father Fadi Haddad from Qatana was kidnapped and killed when he
attempted to rescue his people. They tortured him and killed him. The
same happened in Hama. Currently we're trying to rescue the two priests
that remain abducted.

Hello,
The Syrian opposition named Christian Syrian
George Sabra as their interim chief after Khatib's resignation. Do you
believe this will motivate Christians in Syria to join the uprising as
they seem to be on the fence at the moment. In your opinion does this
move by the opposition undermine the argument that Syria wishes to be a
Islamic state?

@mojolojo - Sabra is highly-regarded and the fact that he
is a Christian does underline the non-sectarian nature of the mainstream
Syrian Opposition Coalition. But there are members of other minorities
in the opposition too - Michel Kilo for one and activists like the
filmmaker Basil Shehadi, who was shot by sniper in Homs. It is also
important to watch the position of the Muslim Brotherhood - maybe more
than the Salafi or jihadi-type groups.
I haven't met anyone who believes that a post Assad Syria will be an Islamic state.

I haven't met anyone who believes that a post Assad Syria will be an Islamic state.

I
expect those that do believe this are making their presence felt on the
battlefields, or are otherwise making youtube videos, of which there
are already hundreds or maybe thousands, featuring vast numbers of
believers armed with mortars, RPGs, armoured and otherwise militarized
vehicles, G2G missiles, heavy machine guns and tanks. This presumably
will be a problem for the Damascenes who might prefer a non-Islamic
state but who will be left extremely vulnerable to such a prospect in
the absence of a military defence?

NK: Are there any Orthodox Christians in the Opposition?
BL:There
are two Christians in the National Council in Istanbul, but neither of
them has the conscience or moral values of a Christian. One of them,
Michel Kilo, has no idea what a church is. Same goes for George Sabra.
These are the leaders of the militants who open fire in Christian
neighbourhoods and kill priests.

What's been the reaction of the government and local people
to the supply of Croatian arms to the opposition by Saudi Arabia? I
note State TV still refers to them as Israeli weapons when they are
featured as part of captured arms caches on State TV.

@BrownMoses - Vice foreign minister Faisal Miqdad attacked
"stupid Arabs" - primarily Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but also Jordan,
playing an increasingly important role building up a new "southern
front."
Assad's recent warning to Jordan was fairly explicit.
Syrian officials often try to implicate Israel because it is an easy and
familiar target- eg Miqdad spoke of "Mossad agents" killed in the Deraa
area but I've not seen any independent confirmation of that.

@haywales - I'm told there are some signs of change in
Jebel Druze. People also point to anti-Assad comments from Walid
Jumblatt in Lebanon. But I have no first-hand knowledge of the area,
which is not accessible to foreign journalists.

@HaveYouSeenThisMan - With all due respect, no need to ask
Ian; we all know the answer to that one. Look at Egypt, Tunisia and
Libya; who is in charge? Yes the same gentlefolk who wish to retreat to
the dark ages...

@BrownMoses - Conflict feels much closer. Damascus is
effectively surrounded and parts of the city proper, such as Jobar, are
under rebel control. The key front is in the Deraa area.
These pieces give my sense of things:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/19/damascus-din-of-war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/14/syrian-crisis-damascus-sound-war-bombs

@Grillo - Gauging support for rebels or government is the
hardest question of all. In Damascus, where the war is now much more
palpable, I sense a great weariness and a belief that Assad will not
remain in power in the long term. Understandably there is enormous
anxiety about the future, especially because the opposition is so
divided and so many outside parties are involved.

Ian, Would it not be fair to say that in this conflict
there are more Syrian born Sunni Muslims fighting FOR the regime than
the FSA has Syrian born Sunni Muslims fighting for it? Simple question
and given the size of the SAA and the fact that defections are nowhere
near the scale as we saw in Libya for instance that the only sectarian
angle comes from within the FSA itself.
Simple question more Sunni Muslims fighting for and supporting the present regime than those fighting against it.
Also
would be nice to know how many peaceful opposition numbers are and how
many do NOT want to see the likes of the FSA gaining any foothold inside
Syria.
TA.

Why does your paper refuse to publish anything relating to
'activists' being caught out lying, such as the Danny Abdul Dayem
incident on CNN? Do you think such fabrication is not noteworthy when
you constantly tell us how you have to rely on 'activists' for
information?

@Soul_Side - My impression, based on conversations with
Syrians, is that Assad cannot survive in the long term even if that
means just getting through until the end of his presidential term, as he
would like, next year. I guess that armed rebellion and political
pressures will continue to go in tandem, though international factors
will be important. The SAA looks worn down by two years of war.

if u can compare the situation in north Syria to south , do
you think in the near future Syria is going to be divided into two
countrys one in the north and west with Islamic features and another in
west and south as the rest of the regime ? and if so would the conflict
last for another few years ??

@Christian Brendon McCarthy - Continuing attrition, perhaps
a sudden rebel breakthrough in the south followed by political pressure
on Assad to go. Maybe an internal coup. Chaos afterwards - any or all
of these.

Ian, have you had contact with opposition activists
associated with the Local Coordination Committees of Syria or the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights? How credible do you find their reports?
Are there particular kinds of reports that are typically reliable? Is
their information that those groups are consistently ignoring or
misrepresenting?
Cheers.

From a source within the orthodox church I came to know
that foreign jihadists were behind the kidnap of Bishops in Aleppo. Can
you let us know if this is the case? Also, I was told that numerous
churches and many old Christian literature written in Syriac were burned
down by FSA and other rebels in Aleppo. Apparently the Syrian
government advised many of the church leaders to move to Lebanon to
escape persecution. Can you let us know the situation of Christians in
north Syria?

If Representatives/Leaders of Both Opposition & Ruling
Assad Party are really care about the life of Each Syrians Why Rebels
and Syrian Military is Taking arms ? Do syrians thinks that Real freedom
will Come to Syria

I also want to ask about the Red Cross in Syria. As the
equivalent is the Red Crescent in Syria , does the Assad regime decide
who receives aid ? I have heard that aid is only given to pro regime
areas by the Red Crescent , is this correct?

@Pam Dalloul - the Red Crescent in Syria, like all Red
Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide, is independent from the
government of the country and operates by the principles of neutrality
and impartiality.